I wish to make my own garlic oil. I know that this has been discussed before possibly on the BBC board. I am sure that I remember something about botulism being a possible problem.Does anyone have any experience of making this oil. I shall be making a quantity of the stuff.

I tend to make garlic oil for immediate use. Just poach the garlic cloves in the oil ( don´t let it get too hot otherwise it´ll be ruined).The other method I´ve used, for an oil which can be saved, is to roast the garlic first, then squeeze the pulp into the oil. Heat gently, then allow the oil to cool. I´m always amazed at the wonderful sweetness imparted by roasted garlic!

karadekoolaid wrote:I tend to make garlic oil for immediate use. Just poach the garlic cloves in the oil ( don´t let it get too hot otherwise it´ll be ruined).The other method I´ve used, for an oil which can be saved, is to roast the garlic first, then squeeze the pulp into the oil. Heat gently, then allow the oil to cool. I´m always amazed at the wonderful sweetness imparted by roasted garlic!

The second method presumably gets rid of the botulism danger according to scully's link?

The second method presumably gets rid of the botulism danger according to scully's link?

I`ve never worried about the so-called botulism thing, to be honest. I don´t know of any cases at all and personally think that it´s been rather over-exaggerated by the elf & safely scandal police. I´m not trying to downplay the risk, but I´m sure that millions of people all over the world make garlic oil every day, and never suffer from botulism. Garlic is widely used in South America and the Caribbean, and is frequently prepared under less-than-perfect conditions - and yet, there are few, if any reports of botulism outbreaks. And before someone says " well maybe that´s because reporting/identification is less stringent" - yes, I agree. However, something as severe as botulism WOULD be reported - just like cases of people being poisoned by bitter cassava root ( a common problem with maybe two or three cases per year).

The second method presumably gets rid of the botulism danger according to scully's link?

I`ve never worried about the so-called botulism thing, to be honest. I don´t know of any cases at all and personally think that it´s been rather over-exaggerated by the elf & safely scandal police. I´m not trying to downplay the risk, but I´m sure that millions of people all over the world make garlic oil every day, and never suffer from botulism. Garlic is widely used in South America and the Caribbean, and is frequently prepared under less-than-perfect conditions - and yet, there are few, if any reports of botulism outbreaks. And before someone says " well maybe that´s because reporting/identification is less stringent" - yes, I agree. However, something as severe as botulism WOULD be reported - just like cases of people being poisoned by bitter cassava root ( a common problem with maybe two or three cases per year).

The reason it considered a risk is because US CDC have recorded two actual deaths directly attributable to garlic oil. Death would be unusual, obviously, but a particularly unpleasant form of gastro enteritis might be a more real risk

Using garlic generally is not a risk, it's putting anything possibly contaminated with soil bacteria into oil and leaving it - very little oxygen under the coating of oil, a trace of water in the garlic itself, keeping at room temperature- this gives clostridium botulinum the perfect anaerobic conditions to generate a toxin. Eating the same cloves of garlic fresh, either raw or cooked would almost certainly be fine, it's making the oil that's the issue